Mama Said Home is Where the Heart is
by Measured
Summary: Heather pilfers some letters from home for Nephenee. Heather/Nephenee.


Title: Mama Said Home is Where the Heart is  
Series Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn  
Character/pairing: Heather/Nephenee  
Rating: PG-13  
Summary: Heather pilfers some letters from home for Nephenee.  
Author's note: hc_bingo: homesickness / Any f/f pair - throw your arms around me = FE_fest. Title from a Lady Antebellum song because apparently Nephenee and country music go together. I don't know.

**.**

"Mail call!" the big lug whose name she could never remember lifted up his arm, holding the bag. He'd gone off and come back hungover, but with enough mail for the entire army in a large brown sack.

"Pardon me, coming through," she said, side stepping a few knights who she'd never quite got the name of. Well, the green one, anyways. The red-head had a habit of screaming his name in the middle of the night while training in the nude.

Heather leaned in, a brilliant smile to disarm him. She flipped her hair, and fluttered her lashes, and he was completely disarmed, and pointedly not paying attention to where her hand was going.

Getting mail was harder than getting a wallet—which she stole simply for the fact that his friend had catcalled her last night in town, and the fact that she could–but she managed it.

"Thanks, _handsome_!" She called back. She didn't bother to listen to his promises to protect her; Nephenee would protect her any time of the day, and be _much cuter._ Nephenee even wouldn't catcall or feel her up, like some of the types he went with, even if Heather really wished she would.

She'd have to wait to count the haul when Nephenee wasn't around. She was such a cute, straitlaced kind of girl. The kind who thought you should only steal from bad people, and then probably give the proceeds to some orphanage or something. Like many things in her life, she felt what Nephenee didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

**.**

She found Nephenee on the far side of camp, sitting behind a tent with her spear in tow. Everything about her was adorably mussed bedhead cuteness.

"I have returned triumphant!" Heather said in a dramatic swirl, mail in hand. Nephenee's eyes widened, and she dropped her spear in surprise.

"Oh, fiddlesticks," she said under her breath as she bent to pick it up again. Her blue-green hair fell into her face, and it was just so damn cute watching her try and hide the blush.

_Nice try, Nephenee._

"Practicing again?" Heather said.

"Actually, I was shinin' my spear and makin' sure it wasn't too dull. Last time, I had it break in the middle of battle..." Nephenee trailed off.

"You're always so diligent," Heather said.

"I try," Nephenee said.

"I got you something," Heather said. She sat down by Nephenee, and let the suspense rise. She knew Nephenee just well enough to be sure that this would go over far better than gold or jewels.

She lifted up the creased letters with a knowing smile.

"Oh! Letters from my ma and pa! I didn't even know they'd come in yet!"

"You always wait to be last in line, the same with the food. By the time you get it, it must be awful stale and cold. Speaking of which—"

Heather produced two buttered buns and a few apples from her pouch, and tossed them Nephenee's way. Nephenee caught both right off.

"Straight from the cook's kitchen," Heather said.

"Aww, Heather, that's so sweet of you. You didn't have to—"

"Of course I did—this isn't negotiable! And I'll keep taking them, too. In fact, you can repay me by keeping me company over a nice dinner," Heather said with a wink.

"I, um, thank you—" Nephenee said. Her helmet slipped down as she opened up the dirty letter. She bit at the apple while reading. She was a quick eater outside of the group; Heather knew enough that this was a sign of trust. Put her at the chow hall and she'd do little more than nibble and curl up into a corner somewhere where no one could see her.

Once she'd finished her food, she hurled the core towards the bushes, and hit it quite far, too. "The birds like the leftovers," she said sheepishly. "Though I used to always save them for the hogs at home. They were always so happy when I brought them their slop."

Heather smiled, but added nothing to this. She may have been a country girl, but she wasn't a farm girl. She'd spent most of her years in small towns and shops, honing her particular trade from boredom, not necessity.

Nephenee cleared her throat. "Oh, the crops are good this year, I'm glad to hear that the war didn't get them lost. Bossie had twins, but one of them was very weak, so my brother's been takin' care of it inside. It looks like the war hasn't hit them down there."

She folded the letter, which had such a large and messy scrawl that it had taken up most of the page just to write a few sentences.

"What about you?" Nephenee said.

"What about me?" Heather said.

"Did you get any word from your ma? I know you were worried sick about her bein'...sick," Nephenee said.

"Oh, that," Heather said. She waved her hand in forced casualness. "I sent her a mail a while back, but I didn't leave a forwarding address. I wouldn't want her to worry, and besides, she'd have to get up and go to the post. My aunt would skin me alive for making her get up out of bed so much..."

She plastered on a too-big smile. "See, it's nothing, really."

"You're...takin' this all on by yourself? Does your ma even know what you been up to all these months?" Nephenee said. Her kissable lips were parted in concern.

"Well, I wouldn't want to worry her," Heather said. She looked at her nails, and fidgeted a bit. "She worries so much. As far as she knows, I'm working with some _merchants _ to deliver some goods."

Well, it was technically true. She'd pilfered some things from the shopkeepers cart once or twice in boredom. It wasn't too hard; whenever Ike came around, the shopkeeper was so starry eyed that Heather could've made off with half her wares and she wouldn't have even noticed.

A shame, she was a stunner, too.

The helmet fell to the ground, but Nephenee didn't bend to pick it up.

"That's...that's awful," Nephenee said.

"Really, it's—"

"No, it's a darn shame," Nephenee cut in, with more force than Heather was used to hearing from such a shy country girl.

Before she could process what Nephenee was doing, Heather felt Nephenee's arms tight about her waist. Her head was against Heather's shoulder, as she held on tight.

"You must be so alone and homesick...it's awful! No letters from home, and not even able to write back..."

Heather's first impulse was to deny it; she was a perfectly independent woman, after all. But Nephenee's arms felt good about her, so her pride could take a hit for the sake of a pretty girl. In other situations, she wouldn't played it up. Fluttered her eyelashes to whatever fool dared catcall her and stole their gold and weapons while they slept off the wine.

But Nephenee was far different, not merely a girl to catch the eye of, but a friend as well.

"Nephenee..." she said.

"It's decided, I-I won't let you feel alone for a minute," Nephenee said. Even as her cheeks burned, she looked on at Heather with a determination. _She's growing stronger,_ Heather thought. The girl she'd first met a few months ago could barely look people in the eye.

Slowly, without artifice, Heather put her arms about Nephenee. She bent in, brushing her lips over Nephenee's forehead.

"Thank you," she murmured. "Thank you so much..."

Well, now where was she? She knew how to flirt with a girl, how to sleep and leave her, how to use her wiles for men and con them out of their gold, but what did she know about actually courting someone?

She supposed they'd just have to learn along the way together.


End file.
